In my humble opinion....: 2013

"Anay??... that's an unusual name...are you serious you want to name him that?" asked my mom, the day after I confirmed my pregnancy with the doctor. I don't know whether its just me or most of us, but when either of my parents cast a doubt on what I'm about to do, my resolve gets stronger from my gut. With the power of google on my side, pat came my reply, "Yes, I'm sure! Its one of the thousand names of Lord Vishnu in the Vishnusahasra naam and it means he doesn't need a leader, he will lead." My mom doesn't give in that easily, "What if its a girl?". The challenge in her voice seemed judicious. Alas, I have yet to meet a rational pregnant woman (whoever is thinking of mentioning Marissa Mayer, is definitely not married to her)! So with a little more support from my gut, I came up with solid reasoning,"Of course its a boy, my face is breaking into a zillion zits!!" My mom gave in, she liked the name, more so for the reason that I named him after a Hindu God and didn't Americanize my unborn baby, all too soon. And just so that the hormonal me doesn't change her mind at the time of the huge upsurge of hormones (also called postpartum blues) my husband got it written over my baby-shower cake!

It was a beautiful spring morning when I held Anay for the very first time. I remember his gaze, his one eye shut because of the operating room lights, he looked at everyone, trying to absorb as much as he could in his beautiful little mind (not crying cost him a little on his APGARscore, we don't seem to mind).

People say 'you fall in love just once'. I don't think they considered mothers when they said this. The more I looked at Anay, I could felt like my heart missed a beat (all those people like my hubby chuckling in their minds reading this and thinking of cardiac arrhythmia, I'm a mind reader :P). I didn't know what to say to him all day except, 'I love you', and I don't think I ever said that these many times in a day to anyone (Hubby... you are still my guy :)).

Anay was a big baby, he still is! A 21inch, eight pounder, whoopie!! When Shanthan first held Anay, he was the happiest I had ever seen him. He just could not stop smiling. He ran around clicking pictures of his little baby boy.

He was and still is an extremely active baby. He had a lot of hair, soft as a feather. He would come in each of the four days with a different hair-do. My favorite was a Mohawk he got on day 3.

The memories of his first week are just so fresh in my mind. I'm sure they will remain so, for the rest of my life. My journey began 11 months ago but its something I cherish each passing day. Whoever says a mother gives birth to a child...I believe a child gives birth to a mother! Thank you my baby for this blessing!

First family picture